Window on Washington: Dr. OSRA

This article originally appeared in the Third Quarter 2022 Benedict’s Maritime Bulletin. Reprinted with permission. Any opinions in this article are not those of Winston & Strawn or its clients. The opinions in this article are the author’s opinions only.

On June 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA), taking aim at the supply chain crisis that convulsed America from the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The law marked the first major overhaul of liner shipping in the United States in a quarter of a century. Early versions of the measure, particularly the House version, included more muscular provisions requiring carriers to make available containers and chassis and explicitly prohibiting carriers from denying export cargo. However, the resultant law features a number of important changes. In particular, the revisions to the Shipping Act clamp down on demurrage and detention practices, requiring new transparency and shifting the burden of demonstrating the reasonableness of such charges onto common carriers. Additionally, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which oversees the Shipping Act and the liner industry in the U.S., receives new mandates making enforcement of shipper rights more likely.

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